Floor mopping logistics. (serious!)
OK, I'm being totally serious here. I don't GET how to mop a floor and make it come out clean. Not sticky, not dirty in some spots, just clean and smooth.
Here's what I usually do:
1) Vacuum dry particles up
2) Fill bucket with warm water and soap
3) Use Libman wonder mop to get the entire floor soapy, scrubbing away any sticky spots
OK, that I get. What I don't get is the RINSING. How do you rinse with a mop? It just gets soapy and dirty--and soapy, dirty, slightly diluted water is left on the floor. I imagine you'd have to rinse with the mop/floor in clean water a good three times before the floor was actually rinsed clean!
So usually what I do is:
4) Get a cold wet towel and a dry towel (old big ones).
5) Get on hands and knees and rinse with the wet towel.
6) Keep dry towel under knees and scoot along behind the rinsing towel to wipe dry and clean.
I feel like there has to be an easier way! And I want it CLEAN. My floors are never clean enough for my liking despite everything.
How do you all do your floors?
I have white tile floors, I mop with a wondermop, and use 1/2 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water....no soap....no need to rinse or dry....I let it air dry.....my floors, always look good, and are disenfected......if you use soap, look for one that dosn't have to be rinsed so it won't leave a film
Thanks, I'll probably do that when my soap runs out.
The soap I use is just an all purpose dilutable cleaning fluid. Just put a splash in the bucket. It does need to be rinsed.
fyi I have linoleum floors with those hideous pores.
yeah, on polished wooden floors, I vaccuum, then use a not-very-bubbly disinfectant and usually just go over once with the mop and air-dry. Sometimes I do a second go with just hothothot water. But normally it's fine, clean, not too streaky after just a mopping.
The mop I use at the moment is pretty much like this:
http://s7v1.scene7.com/is/image/JohnLewis/230415479?$product$
We use vinegar and water to mop- no need to rinse.
Some people put a dry towel on the dried out mop and use that to dry...um, like you're mopping with something dry? I don't know if that came out clear. ;)
Oh, good idea! Do the mop steps, and then vinegar/water stuff. I'ma try that.
We use vinegar and water to mop- no need to rinse.
Some people put a dry towel on the dried out mop and use that to dry...um, like you're mopping with something dry? I don't know if that came out clear. ;)
Yup yup yup. I might do that, I get a lot of satisfaction from the drying part.
This is so ridiculous but I need to fix it! These are all good tips.
I can only speak for workplace-mopping: no-rinse floor cleaner diluted in hot water (evaporates faster), wring & re-dip when dirty, mopping with the side-to-side motion, moving back to front. Yeah, so that means the dirty mop water is used to clean... But hey, that's business.
Dry mops always wind up dirty, so they become impossible to dry with, and just sort of become a soft push broom (fun, though =)).
Yeah, def. no-rinse cleanser is the way to go. I know women who do rinse, but it doesn't help. The no-rinse cleansers (natural or commercial) dry superfast anyway.
There is so much gunge in our tapwater (chemicals etc) that rinsing doesn't make your floors any cleaner, anyway.
And make sure your mopping strokes overlap. DH never used a mop till he was 62 so it was an interesting experience to teach him. I am so used to doing it I never really thought you could "do it wrong." But then I learned by watching anyway, so having to explain it was like trying to teach someone to chew.
My kitchen has linoleum with hideous pores. I use vinegar, too. I don't rinse, either. It's all good.
What ratio of vinegar to water?
I found this on a green website.
vinyl and linoleum: mix 1 cup vinegar and a few drops of baby oil in 1 gallon warm water. For tough jobs, add 1/4 cup borox. Use sparingly on lineoleum.
wood: apply a thin coat of 1:1 vegetable oil and vinegar and rub in well.
painted wood: mix 1 teaspoon washing soda into 1 gallon (4L) hot water.
brick and stone tiles: mix 1 cup white vinegar in 1 gallon (4L) water; rinse with clear water.
Most floor surfaces can be easily cleaned using a solution of vinegar and water. For damp-mopping wood floors: mix equal amounts of white distilled vinegar and water. Add 15 drops of pure peppermint oil; shake to mix.
I've never heard of anyone drying/rinsing their floor after mopping. Hah.
I dont even know what we have here that we use.
I use it undiluted. I don't have a mop. I have vinegar in a spray bottle as an all purpose cleaner. I have a small kitchen, so I spray and wipe the floor by hand and use a bamboo skewer where extra scrubbing is required.
Note: Make sure it's white vinegar, not wine or cider; if you use those you will have a sticky, smelly mess. Ask me how I know this. ::) We can now get white vinegar at the Asian store just occasionally but it's in pint bottles, which doesn't go very far.
i just do it on my hands and knees cause i don't have a mop and my kitchen and bathroom are small.
an effective way to actually clean a floor well is to have a bucket full of cleany stuff, a scrubber that doesn't absorb water, a mop, and a bucket for dirty water.
dump clean water onto floor.
scrub
use mop to sop up dirty water
sqeeze dirty mop water into the second bucket.
done. this is how i have always seen it done well and effectively in industrial kitchens.
Ooooh I like that idea hesp. That's kind of what I was looking for in terms of the technique. I will try that next time! Then when I run out of soap I will try the vinegar.
I just bought a Shark Steam Mop because I was having similar issues! this was after watching hours and hours of the Haan Steam Mop informercial one day when I was sick. I just had to have one! lol
It really is sort of a piece of junk. I was excited to be steaming and sanitizing my floors, but it doesn't seem to work that well. I'm pretty sure I will return it.
I got it because it says "safe for wood floors" but then I read online to never use any type of water on wood floors. So, how can I mop my wood floors! Really, oil and vinegar? Seems like it would be greasy!
You can damp-mop your wooden floors, just don't get them sopping wet by sloshing water around. In the States they have (had?) mops that were sponges with a mouse-trap type squeezer. You can squeeze your mop out really good and mop with that. Unless you can find Murphy's Oil Soap, which you can use on wood and it makes it beautiful AND clean.
My method for extra super clean (like move out clean) is a scrubbie, a sponge, a bucket of hot soapy water and a bucket of hot rinse water. Vacuum or sweep the entire area. Then start in a corner and scrub with soap, use sponge to rinse, move to next arm wide section. Should be no need to dry but you wash then rinse only as much as you can reach comfortably before moving on.
The only reason I ever dry them is because I want to make sure I get all the residue off (because I was unsure of my method). Now that you all have these suggestions I definitely won't waste my time.
Vacuum, check. Scrubbie, check. Sponge, check. Must find another bucket!
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